Registration and Early References in Haynes
In 1672 Charles II issued a Declaration of Toleration for Protestants dissenting from the Church of England; this had the effect of some dissenting meeting houses registering with the Secretary of State. The Toleration Act of 1689 enshrined the right of protestants to dissent from the Church of England and, once again, encouraged meeting houses to register voluntarily with local quarter sessions and Anglican church. Registration provided protection against persecution, laying a duty of protection upon magistrates and so was popular with nonconformists. Most registrations were made with quarter sessions until the middle of the 18th century, presumably due to the mutual antagonism of nonconformists and established Church. However, from that point registration with the Church, via the local archdeaconry began to become the favoured method, because the archdeaconry Registrar would issue a licence at any time rather than during the days each quarter when the quarter sessions met.
Visitations by the Bishop of Lincoln to Bedfordshire in the early 18th century give some idea as to the number of nonconformists in each parish from returns made by the vicar or rector. FormerCounty Archivist Patricia Bell has compiled returns from 1706 to 1720 for the Bedfordshire Historical Records Society (Volume 81, published 2002); information for Haynes includes the following:
- 1706: "About 10 families of Dissenters, one Quakers, the others Anabaptists or Independents. No Papists or reputed Papists."
- 1709: "Families 80, souls 320. About 20 Dissenters, who follow Mr. Chandler of Bedford. They have also a Meeting in this parish."
- 1712: "Families 70, Dissenters 1 Quaker, 14 Anabaptists and Independents."
- 1717: "Fourscore and ten families. Thirty Dissenters these chiefly Anabaptists."
- 1720: "About fourscore families in the Parish, whereof fifteen are dissenters. One Quakers: but of what sect or denomination the others I cannot tell."
Bedfordshire Archives has a reasonable number of registrations of nonconformist meeting houses in both the Quarter Sessions and Archdeaconry of Bedford archives. Registration continued through the 19th century even though persecution faded away - this was because registered buildings were allowed to claim exemption from parish poor rates, were exempt from control by the Charity Commission and were allowed to be licensed to carry out marriages. These things meant that registration became almost compulsory in practice for well established nonconformist meetings. This is fortunate for the local historian because sometimes the only surviving references to a nonconformist meeting occur as registrations. One drawback with the registrations are that they do not usually inform the reader of the particular type of denomination involved, though sometimes it is possible to infer it from other evidence.
Edwin Welch researched the history of registrations in Bedfordshire for Bedfordshire Historical Records Society Volume 75 Bedfordshire Chapels and Meeting Houses [published in 1996] and found the following for Haynes:
- On 20th January 1766 a dwelling house of Thomas Randall is registered by Richard Wheeler and William Tansley [refs: ABN1/1 and ABN2/22A].
- On 12 July 1775 a house of Elizabeth Arms, widow, is registered by herself, Simon Tansley, Thomas Farviel, James Andre and James Brashier [ref: QSP43/15].
- On 11th June 1807 the dwelling house of Thomas Taylor is registered for occasional worshop by himself, Thomas King and John Whitridge.
- On the 26th and 27th August 1816 a tenement of Stephen Beale is registered by himself, Samuel Beard, William Green and John Cox [ref: ABN1/1 and ABN2/172].
- Between the 14th and 18th December 1824 a newly erected chapel is registered by William Witteridge, John Cox and Thomas Allen [ref: ABN1/2, ABN2/217 and ABN3/3].
- On 17th February 1854 a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is registered by William Henry Clarkson of 4 Harpur Street, Bedford, superintendent minister. It was cancelled on 29th August 1894.
- On 30 March 1875 a Wesleyan Chapel in Silver End Road is registered by Hugh Jones, a Wesleyan Minister of Bedford.
- On 8th September 1894 a Calvinist Baptist Chapel is registered by William Rudd Green of Cotton End, Eastcotts.